In preparation for All Saints' Day, Poles clean graves.
Cleaning Graves
Month: October 2001
The Beer that Changed My World
A Walk in the Fields
A Classroom
Tearing Down History
It's almost a crime, happening in front of everyone: a home over a century old, torn down for firewood.
XCG Thoughts
To begin with, Lee Clark has been having “visions” and “messages”1 that this fits into nicely. Of course all his ranting and raving about the “chem-trails” he’s been seeing above Las Vegas doesn’t really fit in well, because he thought the attack on America would come from the United Nations.
On the other hand, Garner Ted Armstrong is following in his father’s footsteps nicely — poor writing, an overwhelming sense of self-importance, and totally belittling treatment of anyone with a different opinion.
To begin with, Armstrong doesn’t really have a firm grasp of basic English grammar, including parts of speech: “Adjectives cannot describe what I saw; what I felt. Outrage. Anger. Rage. Shock. Pity.” It’s funny that there’s not a single adjective in his list. It’s not that he started out with a list of adjectives and accidentally switched to nouns. He used nouns from the beginning and called them by another name.
I won’t provide documentation for Armstrong’s sense of self-importance because it’s in abundance at his website (http://www.gtaea.org) and I just don’t want to wade through his inept writing to find it all again.
Finally, in discussing international reaction to America’s bombing campaign, he refers to an “empty-headed young lady” and later refers generally to “thick-headed” people. Sounds like Herbert.
Finally, there was this proposed solution to the problem of America setting up a “puppet government” in Afghanistan when it’s all over (a claim he provided from one of the “thick-headed” folks protesting the attacks, not his own):
What should be done is this: Say to the neighbors surrounding the forbidding mountain wastes of Afghanistan that each of them are hereby offered a share of the pie. Say to the Iranians, Turkmenis, Tadzhikis, Uzbekis and Pakistanis that each can occupy a portion of what was Afghanistan in return for the following quid pro quo:
(1) They will immediately cease all research and development of weapons of mass destruction, and sign a 100-year pact agreeing never to seek such weapons, including permission for open inspections by the international community.
(2) Iran and Pakistan will dismantle and destroy any nuclear facilities, and destroy all stockpiles of chemical or biological agents.
(3) Each country will declare war against terrorism; will arrest and hold for trial any and all terrorists or their supporters.
(4) Each country will guarantee human rights, free access to education, free speech, free expression of religion, and will grant to women the right to vote, and, horror of all horrors, even to walk about in public with their faces showing.
(5) Each country will sign a peace treaty with Israel, and guarantee Israel’s right to exist.
Following the dismantlement of the Ottoman Turkish empire after World War 1, many "nations" were created in the Middle East. Following the gradual disintegration of the world’s major colonial empires of Britain, France, Germany, Holland, Spain and Portugal, many other nations were created. Nations such as the "Anglo-Egyptian Sudan" became Sudan; "Trans-Jordan" became the "Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan;" Yugoslavia was pieced together from a collection of several ethnic groups, as were nations in the rest of the Balkans. Czechoslovakia was pieced together from the Austro-Hungarian empire, and has since divided into the Czech Republic and Slovenia. There is plenty of precedent for big powers to partition, absorb, or divide up conquered territories. It has taken place virtually from the beginning of time. Clearly, the beleaguered, war-weary, exploited peoples of Afghanistan deserve something better than the governments which have suppressed them for the past many decades.
He’s basically suggesting a partition of Afghanistan. “It’s been done before!” was his justification. Yes, and it always works wonders.
This, though, is a perfect example of the ethnocentrism, racism, and imperial/colonial apology/worship that seems to run in the Armstrong family. One can clearly see, for example, what happened to all the nations of Africa once they got their independence from the “oppressive” rule of Great Britain — so goes their argument. And here it is again — whatever the great Anglo-Israelite American government decides would ultimately be best for Afghanistan, no matter what they think. See, backward races like that simply don’t know what’s good for them. They don’t know how good they in fact have it. Such racist ignorance.
Armstrong also appropriates this as proof of his prophetic acumen. He doesn’t say that he predicted this or any such nonsense, but simply he knew something catastrophic was going to happen. “All of you who are a part of this work of the Watchman, are most probably, just like me, shocked at this — but you are not surprised!”
Giving credit where it is due, he did say something similar about a month earlier (or so he claims).
Something has just been brought to my attention. On the 18th of August I was speaking before a group in Lexington, Kentucky. At one point I was recounting the time Jesus was talking to the disciples about the temple and how "the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down (Luke 21:6, Mat. 24:2, Mark 13:2)." I then went on to describe what this would be like for us in the "here and now". I then stated. . .
"That would be tatamount [sic] to saying; driving down Wall Street in New York, you are going to see the day when it is a pile of rubble. There will not be the Twin Trade Towers, there will not be the Chrysler building; there will not be the Empire State Building. . .. . .. . ..it will be ground level."
An astounding analogy, given the events of the past week!
The only problem with that is that this was an analogy to what was to happen in Jerusalem, not a prophecy of what was going to happen in New York. And amazingly he even comes close to admitting that, saying it was “an astounding analogy.” And giving himself a nice pat on the back at the same time.
Finally, Armstrong has an article entitled, “50 Years of Warning!” in which he praises his tireless efforts over the last forty-two years2 to warn the world. No mention of the fact that there has always been a tendency to say, “It’s coming in the next x to y years!” and then when the given date comes and goes, it’s just reformulated. Silly men.
1 I think indicates that he’s in some serious need for some psychiatric help. We often say, “This guy needs help,” but don’t really mean it. This time, I honestly do believe he needs some time with a psychologist or psychiatrist. He’s hearing voices, which of course he’s interpreting as being from God, and he’s having rather “vivid” dreams, which naturally is also from God, but probably is probably just the effects of his hyper-imagination. The voices, though, I don’t believe would be the product of such an overactive imagination.
2 Strangely he begins the article, “For 42 years, I have continually warned.” I guess he decided to round up because “50 Years of Warning” sounds better than both “40 Years of Warning” and “42 Years of Warning”
Field Trip to Skansen
It has been an interesting day. A brief timeline beginning with yesterday afternoon will suffice, I believe, to show how singular it was. (All times are, of course, approximate.)
2:19 PM Yesterday: As I was walking back to the teachers’ room to return 4a’s dziennik and get 3c’s, a few girls from 4c approached me asking me if I wanted to (or rather, was willing) to go on a wycieczka with them. The proposed trip included a hike up Babia Góra, the thought of which alone set my knees hurting. I told them I’d think about it and let them know the next day. “Musimy wiedzić dziejsiaj!” they said. I told them to wait while I went into the teachers’ room. There I talked to Sojka about it, and he said it wouldn’t be a problem if I went, but he also told me he wasn’t sure whether there would even be a trip. He said Bogdan was the one figuring everything out and that if we went, he’d be the kerownik. I went back outside only to discover they were going into class. I told them I’d let them know after that class.
3:07 PM I told the girls I would be willing to go with them, though I was thinking that I’d regret it. They’d promised that we wouldn’t be doing any serious climbing, so I thought my dziadek knees could handle it.
5:03 PM At the teachers’ party (courtesy the gmina), I asked Sojka what the deal was. He said he still didn’t know, but suggested I just come by the school around 7:30 or 7:45 the next morning and see.
6:45 AM I woke up a little later than usual, but I knew when I got up to go to the restroom that my dziadek knees couldn’t handle a trip up Babia.
7:43 AM I walk into the teachers’ room only to see that no one is there but the biology teacher. She asked me why I was there so early, and walking over to my little cupboard, I lied and said I just had to get a book. I really didn’t feel up to explaining everything in Polish.
8:30 AM I headed back to the school to discover that a) Mirek Smoleń was, in fact, the kerownik; b) we were going to the skansen in Zubrzyca instead of a hike up Babia (music to my knees); and, c) we were leaving in half an hour.
9:13 AM We finally leave for the skansen.
11:00 AM The tour of the skansen over, we begin walking toward Babia on the road, heading to a then-unknown destination for an ognisko.
11:20 AM We arrive at the ognisko location — the same place we had the Dzień Nauczyciela teachers’ party my first year here, five years ago.
11:35 AM Deep into roasting my kiełbasa, I’m interrupted by the elderly gentleman who’d been preparing the fire. “Czy mogę prosić pana?” he asked, motioning outside. Leaving my camera on a shelf on the wall, I walked outside with him. When I emerged alone, he asked me to go get the “inne Pan,” and my suspicions really began mounting. “We’re going to drink vodka at eleven in the morning,” I thought. When Mirek emerged, the gentleman led us to his small little hut where he kept keys to all the cabins and such and gave us tea with a healthy bit of rum in it. “This is tolerable,” I thought. Yet I also knew I’d eaten only an apple and bowl of cornflakes in the last 18 hours (I didn’t really eat anything for dinner last night), so I knew it could be deadly.
12:22 PM I’ve almost finished my rum and tea — I’ve got about a quarter of a mug left — and the gentleman, when I’m looking away, tops it off. With rum. So it’s about 80% rum and 20% tea. And it’s just a few minutes past noon. This is also roughly the time that Pani Cupiał came in — Marcin and Anna’s mother, the kindly woman who brought so much fish to C during studnióka that last year. She’s really a great woman and I enjoy talking to her a lot. She’s one of those Poles (Mirek too) who speaks in such a way that somehow I manage to understand about 70-80% of what they say.
12:40 PM Mirek and I decide that we need to eat something to get from getting completely wasted while chaperoning a school trip. Just as we’re about to head out, a couple of students bring us the sausages we were roasting, and I knew we’d be spending the whole afternoon in that little hut.
12:45 PM I’d mistakenly mentioned that I preferred beer to all other alcoholic beverages, and that I smoked (much to Mirek’s surprise) when I drank beer. Pani Cupiał left the room for a little while, returning with a couple of beers and a pack of cigarettes. So Mirek and I drank a little more, discovering, after following the gentleman’s1 lead, that fresh honey in beer is quite tasty.
1:08 PM Tomek and Tomek come to the door and ask if they can talk to me. I walked out, saw their faces, heard Tomek Ż’s first words, “Mr. Scott, you know I really like you,” and I just knew they’d been fucking around with my camera and broken it. Much to my relief they just wanted cigarettes. “We heard you smoke and we wanted to know if you have cigarettes.” I told them no, and as they were leaving, said, “This can just be a secret, right?”
1:27 PM After finishing the beer, I was feeling woozy, but not too drunk. We were due to leave in half an hour so I thought, “Okay — I did it. I survived without getting wasted.” And then Pani Cupiał brought two more beers. In the end Mirek and I compromised and shared one of them. Still, I’d only eaten a small roll and a bit of sausage since my small breakfast, so my head was spinning fairly pleasantly.
2:00 PM We finally leave.
2:30 PM We finally arrive in Lipnica.
2:45 PM I go to the school to get some lunch, thinking, “Whew, this was close. Almost three. If I’d been a little later I wouldn’t be able to get any lunch.” Wrong. They’ve changed their schedule, and lunch is no longer available after 2:30. So I went to the store, bought some stuff for sandwiches and went back home.
3:00 PM I sit down with my sandwiches and tea to watch BBC world.
3:45 PM I wake up and realize I’d dozed off immediately after eating. I went upstairs and went to sleep.
6:30 PM I finally drag my lazy but no-longer-so-drunk ass out of bed.
And such was my wycieczka with 4c.
1 Through the whole afternoon we just called him “Pan,” so I’ve no idea what his name is.
Weekend in Krakow
Meetings and Terrorism
More anthrax attacks. The most recent have been against Majority Leader Tom Daschle and New York governor George Pataki were both the target of attacks. In Daschle’s case, over twenty of his staff members have tested positive for anthrax exposure, though I’m not sure about what became of the Pataki case. The anthrax used in the Daschle attack, though, was reportedly a highly pure, very potent form of anthrax, almost “weapon-grade” or something like that. This of course only highlights the simple fact that America is being attacked with technology (in the case of the World Trade Center attack, we can leave the word as it is, but as far as anthrax goes, I think it’s better to be couched in quotation marks) that America itself created.
Monday night I did indeed meet T in Quattro Monday night. We chatted for about two hours, I guess. Nothing major, but a comfortable evening nonetheless. I would like to see her more frequently in a way, but there’s really nothing between us to justify that. I enjoy talking to her, and she seems to like talking to me, but we honestly don’t have that much to discuss. Strange.
Tuesday we had a teachers’ conference that, much to my surprise, lasted only an hour. The meeting itself, that is. Afterwards we went down the cafeteria for a lunch prepared by the students’ parents for Dzień Nauczyciela. I had a surprisingly decent time. Nothing spectacular, but still I wasn’t bored out of my skull until the very end. We’re supposed to have some other party this Monday, but I didn’t really get the drift of it — why we’re having it, or even where we’re having it.
Internet Woes and More
I tried to check my email at school today, but unfortunately I only ended up wasting about forty-five minutes because, of all pages, onet.pl wouldn’t load. “Cannot find server.” Stupid. So I tried uploading my new pictures. I could probably write down all the binary code, walk to France, buy a rowboat, row to America, walk to wherever the damn server is held, and manually enter all the info before I’ll be able to upload it. It just keeps freezing up. Stupid piece of shit. I’m just going to post (if I can) a notice on my web page saying that I won’t be able to update as often as I’d like due to the simple fact that I haven’t really got an internet connection in the truest sense of the term.
As an experiment, I went to Yahoo games site to see if it would load (it did, but only halfway — I couldn’t get to any of the actual games), and the following page popped up:
I guess that’s probably one inevitable result of the attacks on America — an increase in patriotism. It’s strange that such an ad would appear at a games portal, but I guess it’s also not all that surprising: an effort to remind people even in their amusement that now is the time for great patriotism and all that.
On to other things. Israel has executed another “Hamas” leader. (I put that in quotes simply because I don’t know of any evidence that’s been produced to show his guilt, and it certainly hasn’t been presented in a court of law.) The method of execution shows once again that Israel, in certain respects, is just as much a terrorist state as any of the “radical Islamic” states such as Syria or Iran: it was death by car bombing. It wasn’t a suicide bombing, but it was still a car bombing. Just what Israel hates.
Wasting time waiting to check email was not the only bad thing today. Far from it. It seemed to be one disaster after another. The copier for the liceum is broken, so I had to go down to use the one in J’s office. Of course when I went down there, the door was closed and the secretary said, “Zajęty!” So because of some meeting I was unable to copy the necessary materials. I went back up to the teachers’ room to get the tape player only to discover that one of the other language teachers had taken it. Five language teachers (three German, two English) and we have one working tape player for the school. Outrageous. On the other hand, that’s better than it was — Mamo told me that there was a time in the 80s when there was a strike in Poland and the teachers didn’t have chalk. So I guess it could always be worse.
Classes themselves were fairly boring or even hellish until I got to 3a, quickly becoming my favorite class. I started out by saying, “Are you ready for your favorite lesson!?!” and they all cheered, “Yes!” and so I went a silly step farther and added, “With your favorite teacher?!” And once again they responded similarly. And with each group today I had a good lesson.
I ate lunch today with the German teacher — not Agata, but unfortunately I can’t remember her name. We had a nice chat, though. After lunch she said, “Dziękuję, za miła rozmowa,” and I thought, “It was quite nice.” Perhaps I’ll have another colleague whom I could consider a friend. Someone else who might talk to me in the teachers’ room, bringing the total up to about three or four.
And lastly, tonight I’m meeting T for a beer at Quattro. I went to the primary school during the long break at 10:35 and asked her if she’d be willing. She didn’t even really think about it, it seemed to me. She just accepted immediately. I really don’t know if I’m reading too much into this, but I can’t help but thing she might be interested (at most, just vaguely, surely) in me.
Before I forget — last night, Kinga J. and I went to a photography exhibit in, of all places, Lipnica Mała. It was an exhibit of Aneta Pi’s (Marcin P’s sister) work. It consisted of only about twenty-two eight-by-ten landscapes, but they were quite nice.
While there I talked to Marek A. He told me that if I got bored teaching in Lipnica that he could probably get me a job teaching in Kraków at a private language school. He said I could easily make 4,000 złotych a month. That is certainly a tempting thought, and I might just take him up on it. On the way home, though, Kinga told me that his wife (her name escapes me at the moment) told her they were thinking about going to America, so that might not work out after all. But still, for a few moments I was imagining what it would be like to live in Kraków, and I found it quite an intoxicating daydream.